# How isolation fuels opioid addiction

- Institution: TED
- Department: TEDxMidAtlantic
- Speaker: Rachel Wurzman
- Year: 2017
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Biology, Medicine and health, Psychology and the brain
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_wurzman_how_isolation_fuels_opioid_addiction)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

What do Tourette syndrome, heroin addiction and social media obsession all have in common? They converge in an area of the brain called the striatum, says neuroscientist Rachel Wurzman -- and this critical discovery could reshape our understanding of the opioid crisis. Sharing insights from her research, Wurzman shows how social isolation contributes to relapse and overdose rates and reveals how meaningful human connection could offer a potentially powerful source of recovery.

## Lectures

1. [How isolation fuels opioid addiction](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/rachel_wurzman_how_isolation_fuels_opioid_addiction/50611155398e), 19 min (TED's player)